Guilt Free Fries

Last night my daughter Amy and I made the most wonderful fries for dinner, and they were baked instead of fried.

We've done fries before out of sweet potatoes, which are at the top of my double-yum category, but these had a slightly different take.

These fries were made out of zucchini.

Before you turn up your nose, STOP.

(I know some have an aversion to anything squash)

Let me tell you, my 3 and 5 year old grandsons ate an entire plateful of these morsels, and in between bites Isaak said "Mommy you are the best cook ever!"

I found the recipe for BAKED ZUCCHINI FRIES over on one of my favorite blogs OUR BEST BITES where they give a wonderful step by step tutorial.

(you can also find them with a link on my sidebar)

First Amy sliced the zucchini into spears.

Next dip each individual spear in whisked eggs.

Then dip the spear into a spiced panko bread crumb mixture.

We discovered that one of the best suggestions in the recipe was to sprinkle a few teaspoons of the dry mixture at a time into a separate bowl before dipping. The dry mixture really does become quite soggy after 2-3 spears are dipped.

I am a big fan of Panko, a Japanese bread crumb. They are lower in calories than traditional American bread crumbs, and they they have a great crunchy texture. I use them all the time with chicken dishes.

For the fries we used the plain Panko crumbs and added our own spices, which worked out well.

Lay the spears out on a foil lined cookie sheet that has been sprayed with a non-stick cooking spray.

Amy and I discussed how these steps were a little labor intensive, but when we tasted how good the fries turned out, we felt it was all worth it.

The delightful aroma in the room as the fries were baking kept us peeking into the oven.

You can now have your fries guilt free.

And, I felt it was a great way to encourage my grandbabies to eat more veggies.

Delicious and nutritious!

Our Best Bites suggests dipping in either a pizza sauce or ranch dressing.

Amy fixed a pot of homemade tomato soup as the main course, which we confess, was also used for a little dipping.